Moscow Rules

I became an admirer of Daniel Silva and Gabriel Allon several months ago, after reading  The Fallen Angel  and a number of his earlier books. They were all gripping tales of the clandestine activities of various Western (predominantly Israeli) secret service organisations and the devious ruthlessness of various State and terror organisations.I'd initially downloaded  The Defector  onto my Kindle but a quick check on the reviews suggested it would be good idea if I read `Moscow Rules' first. Although `Moscow Rules' is a complete story with a taut ending `The Defector' apparently follows on seamlessly - same good guys, same bad guys.In `Moscow Rules' Daniel Silva has given us a first-class thriller that's extremely difficult to put down. As always, the characters of Gabriel Allon and his colleagues in Israeli intelligence continue to develop seamlessly - and I strongly suspect that, before long, the remainder of the Gabriel Allon books will have found their way onto my bookshelf and Kindle.There were a couple of points in `Moscow Rules' that jarred slightly - almost enough to affect that five star rating. I felt the appearance, towards the end of the book, of a senior Russian FSB officer could have been handled more smoothly but, as I've subsequently discovered, he plays an important role in `The Defector'. The ease with which a major telephone system was brought to its knees seemed, at first, slightly unbelievable. But, in the concluding Acknowledgements section, Daniel Silva explains that a former member of the United States National Security Council staff had told him just how easily it could be accomplished...Read and enjoy. The Fallen Angel The Defector

I have read and thoroughly enjoyed all of the previous Daniel Silva Gabriel Allon books so buying this was an easy decision to make.There is a danger that when authors write books with exactly the same characters in each that the characters become "stale" and almost taken for granted. It's a bit like the author is too lazy to move them on. However I think that Daniel Silva manages to successfully evolve his characters in each book, so that reading the next is always a pleasure. It's a bit like wearing your favourite comfortable shoes; you know they fit and that you enjoy wearing them.In the book Gabriel Allon is drafted from his honeymoon to meet a Russian journalist who is investigating arms sales to a terrorist group. After a while Gabriel and his colleagues realise that the person leaking information on the arms sales is the wife of the Russian arms trader himself. They need to come up with a plot to be able to speak privately to her and it will come as no surprise to Daniel Silva fans that the way they do this is through art. Needless to say the good guys win in the end but there are plenty of twists and turns along the way.The descriptions of the mega wealthy Russians' lives seem very accurate and the book is very well researched. The author has clearly been to the places he writes about which sadly seems to be quite rare these days.The plot is exciting and credible and it took me just over a day to read this.Why only 4 stars, it is a good book but not brilliant enough for 5 stars with my scoring!

I am gradually going through all the Daniel Silver books and what a delight they are, but I think I may be the only person in the UK to have discovered him. Thank goodness Amazon have them because most bookshops do not stock more than one and I really don't know why. He is a far better writer than most of the American novelist we get and is certainly on a par with Grisham, Grighton etc and reminds me of Follett, Deighton and lately Fiddimore. I really enjoyed this one, but then I have enjoyed them all, difficult to put down. He deserves a gold, let alone silver!

My first entry into Silva's books and whilst it won't be my last, this book was ideal beach reading. An interesting hero with a backstory that adds colour; a dated plot today and overly long. Nevertheless, Allon the picture-restoring hero, has drawn me into additional books.

once again danial silva doesn,t disapoint me , although this was written ages ago and i have only just caught up with it its still a cracker of s read